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PARK WALK
The Park Walk Project is a social and environmental mapping prototype
that records and delivers historical, geological, and user-defined stories
in urban and wilderness parks. The desire of mobile user’s to create
and upload photo/video from experiences in specific locations have figured
prominently in previous MDCN research. With this key learning the Lab
prototyped user interfaces
and working modules that enable park visitors to document their experience,
tag their creations to specific spots along trails and share them with
other visitors.
Working prototypes have been developed that feed context-specific information to visitors as they walk along trails in the park. Interfaces have also been designed to demonstrate how users can create and virtually deposit personal reflections on the environment or personal histories through voice, image and video recording. Individual accounts by daily visitors are layered with historical and environmental documentation and inventoried on the internet for future enjoyment.
Research in the user experience of parks depended fundamentally on information gathered through role-playing, visitor surveys, and participant-observation of ‘park walks’. Patterns of use on walking trails and points of interest were used to design appropriate user navigation maps. Interface design discoveries were also key to the development of these prototypes (e.g. special focus was put on usability of consumer market mobile device displays in outdoor daylight conditions).
Park Walk is part of the Mobile Digital Commons Network, and is currently being developed for Grange Park in Toronto, the Spring Creek Trail in Toronto’s High Park and the Hoodoos Trail in Banff National Park.
Principal Investigators:
Sara Diamond
President, Ontario College of Art & Design
Michael Longford
Concordia University
Lead Researchers:
Martha Ladly
Asociate Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design
Bruce Hines
Assistant Professor, Ontario College of Art & Design
